


A Private Kiss

by JinkyO



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Bad Flirting, F/F, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23198164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinkyO/pseuds/JinkyO
Summary: "Don't play with me, Joss.""I'm not playing." Already she was standing, patting her pocket for her keys. "What are you doing tomorrow night?""Finch and I are taking Gen upstate to a private school in the morning. After that, who knows?""I'm on second shift again. I'll call you, okay?"
Relationships: Joss Carter/Sameen Shaw
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15
Collections: Kissathon





	A Private Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Multifandom Inaugural Kissathon](https://undeadrobins.dreamwidth.org/17337.html) Prompt: Carter/Shaw, private kiss.

There was no sense leaving their next girls night out to Harold so Joss, Shaw, and Zoe exchanged numbers on their own. Zoe's schedule was complicated. She managed to meet them for drinks once, then she was off to D.C. for three days, and when she came back, she was swamped in work -she said.

Not every girl is a girls girl, Joss accepted, which left Shaw, who was even less the girl's night out type. Maybe she could talk Finch into going out shopping with her? Her detective's instinct told her that John's bright little bird would be all into shopping. 

Joss checked in the keys to her squad car and grabbed her purse from her locker and made peace with having a damned good set of comrades in arms instead of friends.

Partners would always have your back. Friends could be messy.

Joss's social circle had never been expansive. She still exchanged Christmas cards with her pledge class sorors from college, kept in touch with a few colleagues on the force, but in the months since the murder of Cal Beecher, her workplace friendships had gone cold. She had Taylor. She had Paul. 

Joss couldn't imagine her and her ex ever reuniting in a romantic sense, though he gave it his best try. Still, Paul was a good man, good for conversation, good for reminding her that she still has  _ it _ should she ever get to a point in life where she felt safe showing  _ it _ off again. It had been nearly eight months since Cal, and Joss didn't think she'd be up for showing it off anytime soon.

Then there was Fusco, Finch, John, Zoe, and Shaw.

Lines drawn, it was a surprise when the first call came. Two weeks after the Ian Murphy case, her phone trilling the unfamiliar number just as Joss dropped her end of shift paperwork off with the clerk.

"Wanna' come shoot stuff with me?"

Shaw.

Sameen, Joss would learn later.

Joss liked the way the name sounded and hadn't been the least bit surprised when, after they'd collected their targets from the shooting range and Joss had returned the Beretta Nano, and they made their way together to a neighborhood bar and put some damage on a shared bottle of Johnnie Walker Black, the dark-haired woman told her that the exotic name that rolled so easily on Joss's tongue and lips meant  _ precious _ . 

Sameen was a strange one. The cat who came back to life. The cat who called. Trying to unravel her was a good distraction from Laskey and Simmons.

It was a few days later before Sameen called again. Again, just at the end of Joss's shift and even a beat patrol officer could see that she, probably with help from Finch, was up on her schedule. 

"Wanna' help me blow a hundred bucks?"

"That depends. What did you have in mind?"

"...I don't know? We could… What would you do with an extra hundred?"

"Oh, so I get to choose? Well, if it was me, I'd treat myself at the salon. Get a deep condition wrap and, maybe have the girl work on my nails. Or I might go shopping, try on some fancy shoes or something."

"...."

Joss laughed as she grabbed her purse and jacket from her locker. "Or we could do something else. Movie and dinner?"

Sameen drove and choose the movie, a prison action flick with Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Joss decided on dinner, the best slices in New York City and cold beer. By the end of the night, Joss had learned that Sameen trained to be a doctor before she joined the Marines, wore the same size 7 shoe as Joss and was not at all averse to the idea of shopping her closet someday, and along with handguns, she enjoyed sniper rifles and Krav Maga. 

That night, after calling Taylor, and checking in with John, Joss pulled open her closet and began pulling out her small collection of fancy heels and platform pumps.

Joss made the next call.

Jerry the barkeep had been a dirty cop, true enough, and in the tense shotgun showdown, the shooting was self-defense clear enough. Even though she pulled the trigger, Joss knew that Jerry was just one more body on HR's tally. 

The house was quiet when she finally came home. Still keyed up and strumming with frustrated energy, she climbed the steps. Taylor was spending the month with Paul. She'd packed him off under the pretense of getting to know his father better. Privately, she also wanted to keep Taylor away until her investigation into HR wrapped. 

She stopped at his door and swept her eyes over his empty bedroom. Tonka trucks and building blocks had given way to video games, to oversized posters of Beyoncé and LeBron James, SAT prep books, shaving cream, and razors. Her little dude was growing up to be a man, she thought. A sharp wave of guilt washed over her and crashed hard against the adrenaline of Jerry the dead, dirty cop and Laskey, the Russian mole. She gripped the doorframe and breathed.

It was too early for sleep and too late to call Taylor. Instead, she drew her phone from the pocket of her leather jacket and scrolled past Finch, past John, to "Shaw".

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just… had a rough night."

"That makes two of us. Wanna' come over and help me babysit?"

"The girl?"

"Gen. We're at the safehouse. She's asleep now, but I've got her until Finch can set up something more permanent."

"I never figured you for the kid-friendly type. How are you with teenagers? I'm on night shifts next month and Taylor-"

"Stop."

"It was worth a shot."

There was a beat of silence over the line before Sameen answered. "Call when you get here. I'll buzz you in."

A smile ghosted Joss's lips as she ended the call. John would have asked too many questions, would have spent the whole night trying to ferret out her plans for HR. With Sameen, there was none of that. They could sit, drink, share war stories, John, Finch, and Fusco stories. Joss hadn't asked if Bear was at the safehouse too but even the dog, with his soft fur and keen intelligence, made for a good distraction.

She took the time to secure her insurance policy- Laskey's 1911, then she stripped out of her uniform and stepped under the shower to wash away the day.

Sameen met her at the door clad in slim-fitted black tactical pants and a plain black tank top. The white bandage wrapped around her upper arm stood out in stark contrast. Her hair was loose and Joss smiled, appreciating the effect of the dark strands framing her face. 

_ Where had that come from _ , Joss thought as she stepped inside and let Sameen lock up before following her down the steps into the living area.

"Cracked your wing?"

"One of Yogorov's goons. It'll heal up, but Finch has me sidelined."

"Watching Gen?"

"Yeah." Sameen led the way to the sidebar, stocked with an impressive array of top-shelf spirits. "Pick your poison."

Joss plucked a 12-year old whiskey from the shelf which earned an appreciative, almost-smile from Sameen.

"A very rough day, apparently," she said, grabbing two fresh glasses. "Did you bring a bag?" 

Joss shook her head. "I just needed to get out of my house for a while."

"Well, if the whiskey changes your mind, there's plenty of space in my room."

"I'll keep that in mind," Joss murmured. They hadn't even started on the Glenfiddich yet she felt a warm flush at the coded invitation.

They moved the party to the couch, Sameen pushing aside a flat-opened paperback to make room on the cushion next to hers. 

" _ Lolita _ ?"

"It's a book club thing. Pretty stupid book if you ask me, but I started it so, may as well finish it, you know."

"That's a good trait to have," Joss said. She eyed the couch, then the side chair, a safer option situated just to the right. The whiskey sounded a heavy thump as she set it on the table. The couch made no noise as she settled in next to Sameen. "I haven't had time for reading for pleasure since IAB busted me back down to uniform," she said, uncorking the whiskey.

"So, why don't you get out? Finch would take you on in a heartbeat."

"It's not that simple."

"Why? Lionel can tap us into anything we might need from the NYPD and you could partner with me."

Joss nearly spilled her pour. "You've got it planned out and everything!"

"It would break up the sausagefest I'm working with now."

"Well, I appreciate you looking after me, but I'm good. I'm...working on some things."

"Your off-the-books HR investigation?"

Joss gave the bottle a small turn as she ended the pour then pushed Sameen's glass across. She picked up her own and took a second to breathe in the potent aroma before taking a deep shot.

"Listen, Sameen, why don't we keep the shop talk out of it tonight, okay?" Joss swirled her glass slowly. It was bad enough that John was dogging her heels on the HR thing, she didn't need Sameen following the scent too. "So, when we last left off, you were trying to sell me on the RFB Carbine as a better shot than the Recon Scout. I still think you're wrong."

Sameen didn't answer right away and Joss got the impression that she wasn't quite ready to move on to a new topic. Joss took another sip, slower this time, savoring the rich burn, challenging Sameen to keep pushing.

"Bolt action," Sameen said at last and then she knocked back her entire glass in one shot and banged it empty onto the table. "It slows you down. The RFB is semi-automatic. Get in, get out, no messing around," she finished and reached for the bottle.

"Yeah, but the Scout has better balance." Joss slid her glass over for a top off. "Besides, a good sniper only needs the one shot."

Sameen's lips curved slowly. A real smile this time, small, a bit rusty, Joss thought, but genuine. 

"I do love a woman who knows her way around a rifle."

"Is that all?"

"You're getting a little personal there, Joss."

"Am I?" Joss had only had the two glasses of whiskey. Her mind was clear. Her curiosity was piqued. Sameen's smile drew her out into the open. "I've been trying to figure you out, you know."

"Yeah? And what did you come up with?"

"Did John put you on my trail? To keep an eye on me?"

Sameen snorted. "No. John thinks he alone is your personal guardian angel." She slugged down the drink and reached for the bottle again. "My turn. Are you and him….?"

"John?!" The idea of it amused her because it was the same conclusion Laskey had come to. "No. I guess…" Joss faltered for a moment. Sure, there was a spark between her and John, a certain chemistry that was the basis of a good partnership. She trusted John with her life and knew he felt the same.  _ But romantically? _ "No. I'd say we're friends...considering."

"And me? Considering?"

"Your game is a little blunt, Sameen."

"I'm not good at bullshit and chit-chat, Joss."

"Well." Joss dropped her head. She'd followed Sameen's smile straight into that trap. If it wasn't chit-chat and bullshit, then why had she called tonight? Why was she here? 

Joss reached for the bottle. 

Sameen's hand covered hers on the neck, warm and strong.

"Considering?" She repeated. "It doesn't have to be anything more than it is, Joss. If that's what you want."

Sameen's quiet intensity was strange and dangerous. She had that in common with her teammates. Joss felt an uncomfortable warmth in her body because she was considering. A one-off could do her a world of good and Sameen was here, willing, offering. 

Goody two-shoes, Miss Perfection. Joss had experimented in college, a touch, a kiss, sisters doing it for themselves when the fraternity boys were away. The truth was, she could take it or leave it. In the Army, you learned to do without. She recognized that same self-sufficient streak in Sameen. 

Maybe that's why she'd called tonight.

"You know what they say about dipping your pen in the company well. Bad news."

"Good thing I'm not an inkwell. But if you want to dip your pen…"

They held the bottle between them, a piss poor shield, Joss thought suddenly. She pulled her hand away. 

"Gen?"

Shaw grimaced and threw a quick look towards the back of the safehouse. "She's asleep, but you never really know with that kid."

"So… maybe a raincheck?"

"Don't play with me, Joss."

"I'm not playing." Already she was standing, patting her pocket for her keys. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Finch and I are taking Gen upstate to a private school in the morning. After that, who knows?"

"I'm on second shift again. I'll call you, okay?"

"Joss-" Sameen began, rising to stand.

Joss turned, meeting Sameen where she stood and pulled her close for a kiss. Rusty, answered, desperate. Messy.

"I'll call you," Joss repeated, panting out the words, moving away.

"You better, Joss Carter."

"I will, Sameen. I like to finish what I start too." 


End file.
